Six different players scored and Sidney Crosby had three assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins chased Pekka Rinne and blew out the Nashville Predators 6-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the series and move one win away from a second consecutive title.
Justin Schultz, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel and Ron Hainsey scored for the defending champions, who got 24 saves from goaltender Matt Murray. Rinne got the hook after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period, and Nashville backup Juuse Saros didn’t fare much better, giving up three goals in relief.
Crosby put on a dominant performance from his first shift, aside from a scuffle with Predators defenseman P.K. Subban and an incident where he threw a water bottle onto the ice. After combining for zero points in Games 3 and 4, Malkin had a goal and an assist and Kessel a goal and two assists. The final score tied for the seventh-biggest blowout in Cup Final history.
Game 6 is Sunday night in Nashville.
